Editing Defense of Marriage Act (section)

==Enactment and role of President Clinton==
Georgia Representative [[Bob Barr]], then a Republican, authored the Defense of Marriage Act and introduced it in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] on May 7, 1996. Senator [[Don Nickles]], (R-OK), introduced the bill in the [[United States Senate|Senate]].<ref name=nytdunlap>{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/09/us/congressional-bills-withhold-sanction-of-same-sex-unions.html |first=David W. |last=Dunlap |title=Congressional Bills Withhold Sanction of Same-Sex Unions |date=May 9, 1996 |access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref> The [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]] stated that the Act was intended by Congress to "reflect and honor a collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality".<ref name="judiciary">{{cite web |publisher=Yahoo! News |url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/lawmakers-moral-disapproval-gay-people-1996-could-doom-224933451--politics.html |title=Lawmakers' 'moral disapproval' of gay people in 1996 could doom DOMA law in Supreme Court |first=Liz |last=Goodwin |date = March 27, 2013 |access-date = April 23, 2013}}</ref> The Act's congressional sponsors stated, "[T]he bill amends the U.S. Code to make explicit what has been understood under federal law for over 200 years; that a marriage is the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, and a spouse is a husband or wife of the opposite sex."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Chuck |title=Documents of the LGBT movement |date=2018 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=9781440855023 |page=149}}</ref>
[[File:Pat Schroeder vs DOMA.jpg|thumb|[[Pat Schroeder]] arguing against DOMA in the House of Representatives]]
Nickles said, "If some state wishes to recognize same-sex marriage, they can do so". He said the bill would ensure that "the 49 other states don't have to and the Federal Government does not have to."<ref name=nytdunlap /> In opposition to the bill, Colorado Rep. [[Patricia Schroeder]] said, "You can't amend the Constitution with a statute. Everybody knows that. This is just stirring the political waters and seeing what hate you can unleash."<ref name=nytdunlap /> Barr countered that the [[Full Faith and Credit Clause]] of the Constitution grants Congress power to determine "the effect" of the obligation of each state to grant "full faith and credit" to other states' acts.<ref name=nytdunlap />

The 1996 Republican Party platform endorsed DOMA, referencing only Section 2 of the act: "We reject the distortion of [anti-discrimination] laws to cover sexual preference, and we endorse the Defense of Marriage Act to prevent states from being forced to recognize same-sex unions."<ref>{{cite web |publisher=American Presidency Project |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25848 |title=Republican Party Platform of 1996 |date=August 12, 1996 |access-date=July 15, 2010}}</ref> The Democratic Party platform that year did not mention DOMA or same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=American Presidency Project |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29611 |title=Democratic Party Platform of 1996 |date=August 26, 1996 |access-date=December 4, 2017}}</ref> In a June 1996 interview in the gay and lesbian magazine ''[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]'', Clinton said, "I remain opposed to same-sex marriage. I believe marriage is an institution for the union of a man and a woman. This has been my long-standing position, and it is not being reviewed or reconsidered."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Frumin |first1=Aliyah |title=Timeline: Bill Clinton's evolution on gay rights |url=https://www.msnbc.com/hardball/timeline-bill-clintons-evolution-gay-rig-msna19626 |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=MSNBC |publisher=NBC News Digital}}</ref> However, he also criticized DOMA as unnecessary and divisive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/09/18/doma-anniversary-bill-clinton-book-excerpt-512686|title=Bill Clinton Tried to Avoid the DOMA Trap Republicans Set. Instead, He Trapped Himself.|first=Sasha|last=Issenberg|date=September 18, 2021|website=POLITICO}}</ref>

The bill moved through Congress on a legislative fast track and met with overwhelming approval in both houses of the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]]-controlled Congress.  On July 12, 1996, with only 65 Democrats and then Rep. [[Bernie Sanders]] (I-VT) and Rep. [[Steve Gunderson]] (R-WI), in opposition, 342 members of the U.S. House of Representatives—224 Republicans and 118 Democrats—voted to pass DOMA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll316.xml|title=Final vote results for roll call 316 |access-date=January 18, 2009 |publisher=United States House of Representatives |date=July 12, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Geidner|first1=Chris|title=Marriage Wars|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/2011/07/marriage-wars/|access-date=October 28, 2015|publisher=Metro Weekly|date=July 13, 2011}}</ref> On September 10, 1996, 84 Senators, a majority of the Democratic Senators, including [[Joe Biden]],<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Liptak |first2=MJ |last2=Lee |first3=Betsy |last3=Klein |first1=Kevin |date=2022-12-13 |title=Biden signs into law same-sex marriage bill, 10 years after his famous Sunday show answer on the issue |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/politics/white-house-same-sex-marriage-signing-ceremony/index.html |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=CNN Politics |language=en}}</ref> and all of the Republicans—voted in favor of DOMA.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=2&vote=00280|title=On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 3396) |access-date=January 18, 2009 |publisher=United States Senate |date=September 10, 1996}}</ref><ref name="Double Defeat">{{cite news|last1=Geidner|first1=Chris|title=Double Defeat|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/2011/09/double-defeat/|access-date=October 28, 2015|publisher=Metro Weekly|date=September 14, 2011}}</ref>  Democratic Senators voted for the bill 32 to 14 (with Pryor of Arkansas absent), and Democratic Representatives voted for it 118 to 65, with 15 not participating. All Republicans in both houses voted for the bill with the sole exception of the one openly gay Republican Congressman, Rep. [[Steve Gunderson]] of Wisconsin.<ref name="Double Defeat"/><ref name=mw2>{{cite web |work=Metro Weekly |url=http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=6427 |first=Chris |last=Geidner |title=Marriage Wars |date=July 14, 2011 |access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref>

After Congress had passed DOMA with veto-proof majorities in both houses,<ref name=pppqvagay>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/us/politics/bill-clintons-decision-and-regret-on-defense-of-marriage-act.html |title=Now in Defense of Gay Marriage, Bill Clinton|last=Baker|first=Peter|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 25, 2013|access-date=June 2, 2013}}</ref> Clinton signed the bill into law on September 21, 1996<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/12/florida-same-sex-marriage-ban-defunct-law-constitution-gay-lesbian-queer-supreme-court-judge/6736383002/|title='A horrible law': Florida lawmakers seek repeal of defunct ban on same-sex marriage|first=James|last=Call|website=Tallahassee Democrat}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisgeidner/how-the-clinton-white-house-handled-doma-in-1996-in-their-ow|title=There's No Evidence In Clinton White House Documents For Clintons' Story On Anti-Gay Law|first=Chris|last=Geidner|date=October 30, 2015|website=BuzzFeed News}}</ref> late at night behind closed doors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/09/22/president-quietly-signs-law-aimed-at-gay-marriages/4d48e9ee-8f1e-4ea4-ac9d-8a09a9b985e6/|title=PRESIDENT QUIETLY SIGNS LAW AIMED AT GAY MARRIAGES|newspaper=Washington Post|date=September 22, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-22-mn-46623-story.html|title=Clinton Signs Marriage Act, Lauds GOP on Health Bill|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 22, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{Cite periodical|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/10/hillary-clinton-and-doma-bill-clinton-signed-it-for-terrible-reasons.html|title=Bill Clinton Signed DOMA for Terrible Reasons. It Was Still the Right Thing to Do.|first=Mark Joseph| author-link = Mark Joseph Stern | last = Stern |magazine=Slate |date=October 26, 2015}}</ref> Clinton, who was traveling when Congress acted, signed it into law promptly upon returning to Washington, D.C.;<ref name="mw4">{{cite web|last=Geidner|first=Chris|date=September 29, 2011|title=Becoming Law|url=https://www.metroweekly.com/2011/09/becoming-law/|access-date=February 10, 2012|work=Metro Weekly}}</ref> no signing ceremony was held for DOMA and no photographs were taken of Clinton signing it.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7FExDwAAQBAJ&dq=doma+no+signing+ceremony+or+photographs&pg=PA74|title=Accidental Activists: Mark Phariss, Vic Holmes, and Their Fight for Marriage|first=David|last=Collins|publisher=University of North Texas Press|location=Denton, Texas|page=74|date=August 17, 2017|isbn=9781574417036 |accessdate=November 29, 2022}}</ref> The White House released a statement in which Clinton said "that the enactment of this legislation should not, despite the fierce and at times divisive rhetoric surrounding it, be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against any person on the basis of sexual orientation".<ref name=mw4 />

In 2013, [[Mike McCurry (press secretary)|Mike McCurry]], the White House press secretary at the time, recalled that Clinton's "posture was quite frankly driven by the political realities of an election year in 1996."<ref name=pppqvagay /> [[James Hormel]], who was appointed by Clinton as the first openly gay [[U.S. Ambassador]], described the reaction from the gay community to Clinton signing DOMA as shock and anger.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zccaNSshIsI "David Perry interviews Ambassador James C. Hormel on his new book."] Youtube.com</ref> 

Following the signing of DOMA, Clinton's public position on same-sex marriage shifted. He spoke out against the passage of California's [[Proposition 8]] and recorded robocalls urging Californians to vote against it.<ref>[http://www.queerty.com/bill-clinton-on-prop-8-its-unfair-and-its-wrong-20081031/ "Bill Clinton on Prop 8: 'It's Unfair and It's Wrong.{{'"}}] Queerty.</ref> In July 2009, he came out in support of same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2009/07/14/bill-clinton-drops-opposition-to-same-sex-marriage/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider_jim_galloway |first=Jim |last=Galloway |title=Bill Clinton drops opposition to same-sex marriage |work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=July 14, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718073521/http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2009/07/14/bill-clinton-drops-opposition-to-same-sex-marriage/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider_jim_galloway |archive-date=July 18, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bill Clinton Backs Same-Sex Marriage |first=Michael |last=Tracey |work=[[The Nation]] |date=July 14, 2009 |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/bill-clinton-backs-same-sex-marriage}}</ref>

Years later, Clinton claimed that he signed DOMA reluctantly in view of the veto-proof congressional majorities in support of the bill, and that he did so to avoid associating himself politically with the then-unpopular cause of same-sex marriage and to defuse momentum for a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage.<ref name=pppqvagay /><ref>Clinton, Bill (March 7, 2013). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bill-clinton-its-time-to-overturn-doma/2013/03/07/fc184408-8747-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html "It's time to overturn DOMA."] ''The Washington Post''</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Bill Clinton's Justifications for Signing DOMA|url=http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/bill-clinton-doma-2012-3/|access-date=October 28, 2015|magazine=New York Magazine|date=February 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Chris|title=Gay activists unhappy with Clinton remarks on DOMA|url=http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/10/25/gay-activists-unhappy-with-clinton-remarks-on-doma/|access-date=October 28, 2015|work=[[Washington Blade]] |date=October 25, 2015}}</ref> Even so, later the same year, Clinton ran ads on Christian radio stations nationwide promoting his signing of the legislation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/10/politics/bill-clinton-1996-radio-ad/index.html|title=Listen to Bill Clinton's 1996 radio ad touting his passage of DOMA|first=Andrew |last=Kaczynski|website=CNN|date=October 10, 2016|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> The ads were pulled after massive blowback from LGBT groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaczynski |first=Andrew |date=2016-10-10 |title=Listen to Bill Clinton's 1996 radio ad touting his passage of DOMA {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/10/politics/bill-clinton-1996-radio-ad/index.html |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> Clinton's explanation for signing DOMA has been disputed by gay rights activists Elizabeth Birch<ref>{{cite news|last1=Birch|first1=Elizabeth|title=President Clinton is wrong about the history of DOMA|url=http://americablog.com/2013/03/president-clinton-wrong-history-doma.html|access-date=October 28, 2015|publisher=AMERICAblog News|date=March 12, 2013|archive-date=September 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908005155/http://americablog.com/2013/03/president-clinton-wrong-history-doma.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Evan Wolfson.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Geidner|first1=Chris|title=Becoming Law|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/2011/09/becoming-law/|access-date=October 28, 2015|work=Metro Weekly|date=September 29, 2011}}</ref>